Chapter 7

Aria's POV

By evening, Lily's two massive suitcases were piled in the foyer.

She stood in the living room like she owned the place and waved at the staff. "Get rid of all these lilies—I want roses. And make venison for dinner with my herb recipe."

I sat by the window and stared out at the darkening sky. Ethan was flipping through files on the couch, but his gaze kept drifting toward me with something like worry mixed with guilt.

I stood up and walked over to the wall calendar.

Another day gone.

I tore off today's page, and the ripping sound cut through the silence.

Ethan's head snapped up. "You tear off a page every single day. What are you counting down to?"

"Nothing." I didn't look at him and just stared at the shrinking stack of paper. "Just gives me something to do."

He got up fast, and panic flashed in his eyes. "Aria, this is our den. My promise to you still stands—Lily shouldn't be living here. I'll take her back right now."

He turned toward the stairs and shouted up, "Pack your things. You're leaving today."

Lily froze at the top of the staircase, and tears instantly filled her eyes. "Ethan, you just agreed to this... what happened?"

"I changed my mind." Ethan's voice went cold, and his Alpha authority rolled out like a wave. "This is mine and Aria's den. I never should've let anyone else move in. I made her a promise—and I won't break it."

Lily's face went white, and her voice shook. "But Luna already said yes—"

"Her saying yes doesn't make it right." Ethan cut her off. "Pack. Now."

A few minutes later, Lily came downstairs, dragging her suitcases, eyes red and swollen like the whole world had abandoned her.

The engine started.

They left the house together.

After they left, I walked over to the wall. Six pages remained.

*****

Three days had passed since Ethan left with Lily, and he hadn't set foot in pack territory once. I didn't care. I just kept packing my things in silence, and the moonlight spilled through the window onto everything I was about to take with me.

As his Luna, I used to have full access to the pack vault. Over the years, I'd used his resources to build up properties of my own. Today, I went to the notary's office and ensured that every house and piece of land was legally registered in my name.

I deserved all of it.

I took the jewelry from dozens of display cases—most of them courting gifts Ethan had given me during our mating pursuit—and moved everything to a bank vault. The gems caught the light and threw off a cold glitter, just like my heart felt right now.

Once the mate bond was entirely severed and I officially left the pack, I'd move everything to my new home.

I had wasted five years of my life on Ethan.

These jewels, these properties—they were my compensation for the damage.

As the Alpha's former mate, I had every right to take it all.

The days slipped by one after another, and I tore off the last page of my calendar.

The Moonbreak Herb should have taken full effect in his system by now. That night, I poured his drink myself, and the bitterness of the herb disappeared entirely into the burn of the liquor. He didn't notice a thing—just like he never noticed my pain.

My phone buzzed suddenly.

A message from Lily, accompanied by a photo.

It was my grandmother's pocket watch. [Luna, I saw this pretty little watch in your room the other day and just took it. I'm bored with it now, so you can come pick it up yourself.]

My wolf spirit howled inside me.

But I forced her down. I couldn't lose control now, not when I was this close to the end.

I checked the address in her message—the riverbank by Central Bridge—and drove there immediately.

I rushed to the riverbank, and there was Lily, standing right at the edge with Grandma's pocket watch held high above her head. Her eyes glowed gold under the moonlight—a telltale sign of a wolf on the verge of losing control.

"Aria," she said with a smirk that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I called you here tonight to settle something once and for all."

"Settle what?" I kept my voice steady, but my wolf was already pacing beneath my skin.

"I want to see who Ethan would choose—you or me."

A cold dread crept through my chest, but I couldn't look away from the watch dangling in her grip. It was the only thing I had left of my grandmother, and I wasn't about to let this woman taint it.

I stepped forward and reached for it.

I watched her performance with cold detachment, feeling nothing at all.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lily's voice was sharp and grating. "Just because you're his Luna? Ethan's wolf soul doesn't even recognize you anymore! His Alpha mark hasn't been refreshed on you in months!"

She was right.

Ethan's scent had faded from my skin weeks ago, so faint now that no one could detect it. The mate mark that was supposed to be renewed every week had turned into a pale gray scar, like a tattoo left out in the sun too long.

But I felt nothing.

Lily was clearly waiting for me to break down, scream, or maybe lunge at her and start a fight. Instead, I just stood there and watched her like I was seeing a play that had nothing to do with me.

That made her even crazier.

Jealousy twisted her features into something ugly, and her carefully maintained face looked almost monstrous now. Her eyes burned with sick obsession, and her fingers had gone white from clenching too hard.

"You wanna know why Ethan suddenly got so cold with you?" She let out a vicious laugh. "I bribed someone at the lab and faked your pheromone data. Made Ethan think you used an artificial gland transplant to trick him, and that I'm his real fated mate. He believed me right away. You're so pathetic."

My heart skipped a beat. So that was it.

That's why Ethan had turned so distant out of nowhere, why he'd looked at me with all that suspicion in his eyes.

He thought I'd lied to him.

I thought I'd be shaking with rage right now, thought I'd want to claw her face off, but there was nothing. My chest felt hollow, like an empty room after all the furniture's been moved out. The heart that used to race for Ethan couldn't even manage a ripple anymore.

"So what?" My voice came out calm, so calm it sounded like a stranger's.

Lily froze. "You're not even mad?" She stared at me like she couldn't believe it.

Mad?

I would've been once. Three months ago, I would've been destroyed. I would've confronted Ethan and demanded to know why he didn't trust me, why he threw away our bond so easily over some suspicion.

But now I just didn't care anymore.

She looked at my indifference and let out a cold laugh before throwing the pocket watch into the river.

The silver case caught the moonlight as it arced through the air, and I heard the soft splash as it disappeared into the dark water.

"You—!"

My wolf shattered through my control. I felt my canines lengthen and my nails sharpen into claws. I grabbed her throat and pinned her against the railing. "Lily, how dare you?"

That's when I heard the roar of an engine approaching fast.

Something shifted in Lily's expression. Her gaze flicked toward the familiar black sports car pulling up, and a slow, satisfied smile spread across her face.

Then she shoved me with everything she had.

I lost my balance and stumbled backward.

In the split second before I hit the water, I watched Lily throw herself in after me.